Pay

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much was paid in (a) year end and (b) in-year bonuses to officials in his Department in each of the last two years. [Official Report, 24 April 2013, Vol. 561, c. 5MC.]

Brandon Lewis: The information is as follows, including comparative figures for 2009-10:
	
		
			 £ 
			 Performance year Year end In-year Total 
			 2009-10 832,491 181,426 1,013,917 
			 2010-11 580,050 113,830 £693,880 
			 2011-12 247,750 296,500 544,250 
		
	
	With effect from 1 August 2011, my Department abolished Annual Performance and Special Performance Bonus schemes, replacing them with a new Exceptional Performance scheme. This scheme applies to all staff below the senior civil service and under it individuals or teams can be recognised for exceptional performance or achievements through awards of up to £600.
	This Government have limited senior civil service bonuses to the top 25% of performers. My Department has exercised further restraint by limiting the value of bonus payments to 90% of the civil service-wide maxima.

Unemployment

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the implications for his policies are of the observation of the Office for Budget Responsibility report on Economic and Fiscal outlook that the unemployment rate will rise to 8.2 per cent in 2013.

Mark Hoban: We are aware of the challenges facing jobseekers in the labour market and have put in place a substantial menu of support to help them move into work. This includes support offered through Jobcentre Plus, who can offer claimants a comprehensive menu of support from Day 1, the Work programme which offers people tailored support to help them find and stay in employment and the Youth Contract which will provide nearly half a million new opportunities to young unemployed people over the next three years.
	While there may be challenges ahead, recent labour market data has been encouraging with employment up by half a million more people in work and unemployment down by 128,000 over the last year. Despite this, we keep our labour market interventions under review, taking account of the economic conditions.

Work Programme

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  what assessment he has made of the reasons why the Work programme key performance measure did not achieve the minimum performance standard in the first 14 months of the programme; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  whether he expects the Work programme to achieve the minimum performance standard in its first two years.

Mark Hoban: Job outcome performance has built up more slowly than our initial assumptions suggested, partly because Work programme providers are taking longer than expected to track and claim outcomes. Job entry data released by the Employment Related Services Association (ERSA) shows the number of job entries per month has been rising and we would expect this to lead to increased job outcomes in the future. In addition we are working with all providers to improve performance and have issued formal contractual letters to those providers delivering contracts where performance is poorest. Our aspiration for the total levels of job outcomes to be achieved by providers remains the same.

Military Alliances

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what military aviation collaboration projects his Department has taken part in with (a) EU countries, (b) non-EU countries, excluding the US and (c) the US in each of the last five years; and what the cost was of each such project.

Philip Dunne: Ministry of Defence expenditure on military aviation collaboration projects for each of the last five financial years is shown in the following table. The expenditure includes airframes, engines and other systems intrinsic to the aircraft. It does not include airborne weapons fitted to aircraft.
	
		
			   £ million 
			 Project Collaborative partner : EU/non-EU/USA F/Y 2007-08 F/Y 2008-09 F/Y 2009-10 F/Y 2010-11 F/Y 2011-12 
			 Tornado EU 362.0 383.0 383.0 368.0 429.0 
			 Typhoon EU 969.0 1,225.0 1,521.0 1,790.0 1,730.0 
			 Gazelle(1) EU (2)— (2)— (2)— (2)— 1.9 
			 Puma(1) EU (2)— (2)— (2)— (2)— 17.4 
			 A400M EU 168.0 228.0 356.0 144.0 113.0 
			 Hercules C-I30J In-service software upgrade Non-EU 15.6 15.6 12.3 17.8 19.0 
			 Harrier USA 198.0 182.0 203.0 108.0 0.0 
			 Lightning II USA 181.0 100.0 145.0 242.0 259.0 
			 Airseeker USA 0 0 0 15.3 118.0 
			 (1) Information for financial years 2007-08, 2008-09, 2009-10 and 2010-11 is not available. (2) Not available. 
		
	
	The Hercules C-130J in-service software upgrade project includes a collaboration of EU, non-EU countries and the USA. This explains the cost in the 'non-EU' category above.

Negligence: Ministry of Defence

Joan Walley: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what assessment he has made of the potential effects of his proposals for closed material procedure in negligence claims brought by the families of service personnel against the Ministry of Defence.

Kenneth Clarke: The Government is proposing to use closed material procedures (CMPs) for a very small number of cases involving relevant national security material, which the courts recognise cannot be disclosed in open court. Most cases involving service personnel are very different from those for which CMPs would be required. The MOD foresees no need to use CMPs in such cases.

Registration of Births, Deaths, Marriages and Civil Partnerships

Tim Loughton: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many (a) marriages, (b) divorces, (c) civil partnerships, (d) dissolutions of civil partnerships and (e) annulments of civil partnerships there were in each year since December 2005.

Nick Hurd: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	Letter from Glen Watson, dated December 2012
	As Director General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your recent question on how many (a) marriages, (b) divorces, (c) civil partnerships, (d) dissolutions of civil partnerships and (e) annulments of civil partnerships there were in each year since December 2005. (134204)
	The table below shows the numbers of marriages, divorces, civil partnerships and civil partnership dissolutions in England and Wales for 2005-2011 where available. Divorce figures for 2011 are due to be published on 20 December 2012, while marriage figures for 2011 are due to be published March-April 2013.
	ONS divorce and civil partnership dissolution statistics include both dissolutions and annulments.
	
		
			 Numbers of marriages, divorces, civil partnerships and civil partnership dissolutions, England and Wales, 2005 to 2011 
			  Marriages Divorces Civil partnerships Civil partnership dissolutions 
			 2005 247,805 141,322 1,857(1) (2)— 
			 2006 239,454 132,140 14,943 (2)— 
			 2007 235,367 128,131 7,929 40 
			 2008 235,794 121,708 6,558 166 
			 2009 232,443 113,949 5,687 329 
			 2010 241,100(3) 119,589 5,804 485 
			 2011 (4)— (4)— 6,152 624(3) 
			 (1 )The Civil Partnership Act 2004 came into force on 5 December 2005 in the UK, the first day couples could give notice of their intention to form a civil partnership. The first day that couples could normally form a partnership was 21 December 2005 in England and Wales (18 civil partnerships were formed under special arrangements before these dates. These arc included in the figures) (2 )Denotes nil. (3 )Data are provisional. (4 )Denotes not available. Source: Office for National Statistics 
		
	
	The Vital Statistics: Population and Health Reference Tables on the ONS website provide the number of marriages, divorces, civil partnership and civil partnership dissolutions for the United Kingdom and its constituent countries. See Annual Time Series Data table at:
	www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/vsob1/vital-statistics--population-and-health-reference-tables/winter-2012-update/rtd-annual-table.xls

Family Justice Review

Lorely Burt: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what progress he has made in implementing the decision of the Family Justice Review on ensuring that children maintain relationships with grandparents and other family members if their parents separate.

Edward Timpson: We agree with the Family Justice Review's recommendation that the importance of children's relationships with grandparents and other family members, where safe and appropriate, should be emphasised in the dispute resolution process. Work will continue next year to develop a range of support to help separated parents resolve their disputes out of court. The importance of considering the benefits to children of maintaining relationships with wider family members will be stressed throughout this process, including through online support, parenting programmes for separated parents, and as part of the new 'parenting agreement' which is being developed.

Further Education: Admissions

Nicholas Dakin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what plans he has to allow further education colleges to enrol 14 to 16 year olds; and if he will make a statement.

Matthew Hancock: holding answer 17 December 2012
	We are reforming education so it's rigorous and stretching and I want every child that wants to study high quality vocational courses alongside the critical academic core to be able to so do. One way we will be doing this is allowing outstanding, good and improving colleges to enrol full-time pupils from the age of 14. This will take effect from next September.
	Colleges will need to provide a dedicated space for students to go to for advice, tuition and some teaching although they will be able to use all college facilities. A senior member of the teaching staff will be responsible for the centre and ensuring the students receive the education and support they need.
	Like all new education provision the colleges will be subject to Ofsted inspection within two years of opening.
	Whether a child is academic or vocational minded, they deserve the chance of excellent education that meets their needs.
	Further details are available on the DFE website:
	http://www.education.gov.uk/childrenandyoungpeople/youngpeople/gandlearning/a00218341/wolf-review-recommendation-19

Serious Fraud Office

Mike Wood: To ask the Attorney-General what amount has been spent on refurbishing the Serious Fraud Office premises at Cockspur Street, London in the last two years.

Oliver Heald: The Serious Fraud Office moved to its Cockspur street premises in November and some refurbishment was required prior to the move. To date, the cost of refurbishment works is £732,000, and the total cost is expected to be £779,000 (excluding VAT).

Coal

Tom Greatrex: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change when he plans to publish his Department's coal strategy.

John Hayes: The proposition of a coal strategy was first raised with me by the Coal Forum at a meeting last month. The future of coal in a low carbon economy is inextricably linked to CCS and I can see there are arguments for bringing together the different strands of Government policy relating to coal in our future energy mix. I wrote to the Coal Forum on 13 December 2012 to confirm that I will be considering their suggestion further and will respond to this and their other recommendations early in the new year.

Energy: Cooperatives

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what funding he has allocated for energy co-operatives in (a) 2010-11, (b) 2011-12 and (c) 2012-13; to which organisations it has been allocated; and if he will make a statement.

Gregory Barker: DECC does not hold data on the allocation of funding to energy co-operatives.
	However, the Department is planning to shortly commission a piece of research to improve the evidence base around community energy in the UK which will feed in to the development of the DECC Community Energy Strategy.
	As part of this research, the current scale of the community energy sector will be estimated, and a typology of community energy schemes will be developed. The main factors in the success of community energy schemes will also be explored, including what levels of funding have been made available to community energy schemes, and from what sources.

Fish: Conservation

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change if he will consider promoting the use of offshore wind turbines to protect fish stocks in UK waters.

John Hayes: holding answer 17 December 2012
	The Government supports offshore wind because of its potential to play a key part in the UK's energy mix and as a source of investment and economic benefit to the UK.
	I am aware of scientific research that indicates that large permanent offshore structures, such as offshore wind turbines, can create feeding grounds for fish, with a potentially beneficial effect on fish stocks. The responsibility for UK fisheries policy rests with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, although some aspects have been devolved.

Fuel Oil: Prices

Simon Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change 
	(1)  what discussions his Department has had with domestic heating oil suppliers on recent trends in heating oil prices; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  what discussions his Department has had with Ofgem on recent trends in domestic heating oil prices; and if he will make a statement.

John Hayes: Pricing is a commercial matter for individual domestic heating oil suppliers. Competition and consumer protection is a matter for the Office of Fair Trading. They have taken enforcement action following the Off-Grid Energy Market Study in 2011. My officials continue to work closely with the OFT.
	The Government is sympathetic to the predicament of those faced with rising costs. That is why we have worked with consumer representative organisations and industry to launch the Buy Oil Early campaign to encourage domestic heating oil consumers to buy oil early before the winter demand increases prices. Oil buying clubs can be one way of reducing the costs to consumers and providing access to competitive prices. I wrote to Members about this on 19 October 2012 signposting guidance and information about oil buying clubs, which may be of use to their off-grid constituents.

Natural Gas: Exploration

Caroline Flint: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change 
	(1)  with reference to the answer of 23 April 2012, Official Report, column 617W, on natural gas: exploration, when he intends to make a decision about the resumption of fracking operations;
	(2)  when he intends to publish his Department's response to comments on the report published on 17 April 2012 on hydraulic fracturing.

John Hayes: As announced in the House on 13 December 2012, Official Report, column 431, we have concluded that, in principle, fracking for shale gas can be allowed to resume, subject to new controls to mitigate the risk of seismicity. A full written statement, was tabled in both Houses on 13 December 2012, Official Report, columns 44-52WS, accompanied by a response to comments made on the report published on 17 April.

Natural Gas: Exploration

Ben Wallace: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what his policy is on the ownership of the mineral rights to shale gas extraction on the UK mainland.

John Hayes: The Petroleum Act 1998, like its predecessor the Petroleum Act 1934, vests the right to explore, drill for and produce oil and gas in the Crown, and empowers the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, the right hon. Member for Kingston and Surbiton (Mr Davey), to issue licences enabling the licensee to carry out such activities, subject to other regulatory checks and permits. I have no proposals for change in these matters.

Petroleum Act 1998

Ben Wallace: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how many notices he has served under section 29 of the Petroleum Act 1998 in each year since 1998; and on whom such notices have been served.

Gregory Barker: Approximately 4,400 Section 29 Notices have been served since 1998. Section 29 Notices are served on appropriate parties as defined in the Petroleum Act 1998 (and as amended by the Energy Act 2008). These parties include operators, licensees, owners, parties to joint operating agreements or similar, parent companies and associates.

Sick Leave

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change pursuant to the answer of 8 November 2012, Official Report, column 713-4W, on sick leave, what assessment he has made of the difference in the proportion of working days lost due to ill health between officers at AA grade and at SCS grade; and what assessment he has made of the use of mindfulness-based therapies in reducing the proportion of working days lost in his Department.

Gregory Barker: The Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) considers the health and wellbeing of its staff very seriously. It continues to look at ways in which it can support staff of all grades, in work and to return to work.
	Since DECC provided you with data for the 12 month period ending March 2012, the average working days lost due to ill health, at nearly all grades have continued to improve as shown in the following table:
	
		
			  Period ending :  
			  March 2012 June 2012 September 2012 Percentage change from March 2012 to September 2012 
			 AO 7.4 8.2 6.3 14.9 
			 EO 7.5 8.3 5.2 30.7 
			 HEO 3.8 3.8 3.2 15.8 
			 SEO 3.63 4.2 3.5 3.6 
			 Grade 7 2.3 2.2 2.1 8.7 
			 Grade 6 1.8 2.2 2.4 -33.3 
			 SCS 2.4 1.7 0.8 66.7 
		
	
	DECC understands that mindfulness-based therapies can be used as a treatment for depression and recognises that this can be one of the factors involved in staff ill health absences. However if this is the case, DECC would leave the treatment to the medical profession, using our occupational health partners to advise us of the most appropriate approach.

Warm Front Scheme

Caroline Flint: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change pursuant to the answer of 12 December 2012, Official Report, column 312W, on the Warm Front scheme, how many of the 21,956 eligible applications for a Warm Front grant have had energy efficiency or insulation measures installed in 2012-13 to date.

Gregory Barker: 6,006(1) households who applied to Warm Front in 2012-13 have had at least one main heating or insulation measure installed to date.
	(1) Figure as at end of November 2012. The reported figure is a snapshot at a point in time and excludes households that have been surveyed but whose works have yet to be allocated to an installer.

Warm Front Scheme

Caroline Flint: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change pursuant to the answer of 12 December 2012, Official Report, column 312W, on the Warm Front scheme, how many successful applications for a Warm Front grant are awaiting energy efficiency or insulation measures to be installed in 2012-13 to date.

Gregory Barker: 3,202(1) households who applied to the Warm Front scheme in 2012-13 are awaiting the installation of a heating measure and 406 are awaiting the installation of insulation measures. Some households may be awaiting both heating and insulation measures.
	(1) Figure as of end of November 2012.

Warm Front Scheme

Caroline Flint: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change pursuant to the answer of 12 December 2012, Official Report, column 311W, on the Warm Front scheme, what the average length of time was between a survey being completed for a Warm Front grant and an energy efficiency measure being installed in (a) 2012-13 to date and (b) in each of the previous 10 years.

Gregory Barker: The data required for this PQ are not held centrally. To provide a response would be at disproportionate cost. However, the following table shows the average time in working days for the installation of heating and insulation measures from the point of allocation to an installer to the point of installation. Carillion Energy Services, the Warm Front scheme manager, routinely monitors timescales from the point of allocation to an installer to the completion of work in order to measure installer performance under the scheme.
	
		
			 Average install time 
			 Working days 
			  2005-06 (1) 2006-07 2007-08 2008-09 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 
			 Insulation installs 30.88 33.18 27.59 33.11 17.22 18.21 21.99 10.68 
			 Heating installs 67.70 81.72 65.81 65.17 44.07 42.36 53.00 13.32 
			 (1) Data are not available prior to 2005.

Wind Power

Philip Hollobone: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how many wind turbines have been erected in the last three years; and how many such turbines were manufactured in the UK.

John Hayes: holding answer 17 December 2012
	In the last three years, 490 offshore and 2,150 onshore turbines (of which 1,312 are domestic-scale, under 10kw) have become fully operational in the UK. The Department does not hold data on when they were erected.
	While whole turbines are not currently manufactured in the UK, UK companies supply components for wind turbines which' are exported to overseas manufacturers. The Government have set aside £60 million to attract large turbine manufacturing to assisted areas in England, with similar support provided by the Scottish Government, and companies such as Gamesa, AREVA and Siemens have announced intentions to establish UK facilities.

Business: Finance

Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills following his announcement on 12 December 2012, by what date he expects (a) the first and (b) all funds under the Small Business Tranche of the Business Finance Partnership to be drawn down; and what deadlines, benchmarks and targets he has set for this process.

Michael Fallon: Drawdown of the first round of funds made available under the Small Business Tranche of the Business Finance Partnership is subject to legal and commercial terms being agreed with the selected applicants and in, two cases, parliamentary approval. I therefore expect drawdown to start in January 2013.
	With regard to the remaining funds, due diligence on applicants is ongoing. It is important that in supporting new types of finance the Government is confident taxpayers' money is being targeted in the right way, and that small businesses will be able to benefit fully from this support. I hope to be able to announce allocation of the remaining funds in January 2013.

Business: Finance

Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills following his announcement on 12 December 2012, whether business finance advisers will be available through the mentorsme online portal.

Michael Fallon: No but the accountancy bodies will shortly publish a dedicated online portal to signpost businesses to Business Finance Advisors.

Business: Loans

Tom Blenkinsop: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what assessment he made of changes in the rate of net lending to businesses in each English region in the last year for which figures are available.

Michael Fallon: Pursuant to my response to the hon. Member's previous question of 11 December 2012, Official Report, column 231W, there are a variety of sources of bank lending, including providers of asset, invoice and trade finance, bank lending, overdrafts and trade credit. Many of these sources are informal and unregulated and Government does not produce aggregate statistics on their entirety. While the Bank of England collects lending statistics on lending by monetary financial institutions at a national level, these are not broken down by region. The British Bankers' Association does however publish statistics on bank lending to small and medium-sized enterprises which are split by region on a quarterly basis, which are freely available on their website.

Business: Recruitment

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what steps he is taking to encourage small and medium-sized enterprises to employ staff; and if he will make a statement.

Michael Fallon: The Government wants to support growth by breaking down barriers and boosting opportunities by creating the right conditions for businesses to start up and thrive. We have continued to make good progress on our Parliament-long review of employment laws, which is about improving labour market regulation and focusing on those issues which matter to employers, without undermining important protections for individuals. Adding to changes already in place, such as the extension of the qualifying period for unfair dismissal, in September we announced further reforms that will give greater certainty and clarity to employers around dismissal processes, the unfair dismissal compensatory award and settlement agreements, as well as further streamlining employment tribunals. These proposed changes will also give small and medium sized enterprises confidence to take people on.
	We have also launched an online tool to make it easier for first-time employers to access the information they need when taking on their first member of staff, which is available at:
	https://www.gov.uk/employing-staff
	and the Business in You campaign has Government and the private sector working together to promote a range of business help and support on issues which include recruitment.

Business: Regulation

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills which regulations affecting business his Department has withdrawn or amended in (a) 2011 and (b) 2012 to date; which regulations affecting business his Department expects to withdraw or amend in (i) 2013 and (ii) future years; and what estimate he has made of the net cost to business of each withdrawn or amended regulation.

Michael Fallon: The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) publishes its biannual Statement of New Regulation listing a summary of regulations and their impact on business.
	Since 2011, BIS has published four statements listing regulations amended or withdrawn in 2011 and 2012. The fifth statement, published on 17 December 2012, lists regulations due to be introduced between January and June 2013. Regulations withdrawn or amended as a result of the Red Tape Challenge are published to the same timetable by the Better Regulation Executive in their Statement of New Regulation.
	All statements can be accessed from the following website:
	www.gov.uk

Communications Data Bill (Draft)

Nick de Bois: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what representations he has received on the draft Communications Data Bill; and if he will make a statement.

Jo Swinson: To the best of my knowledge the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, my right hon. Friend the Member for Twickenham (Vince Cable), has received one formal representation on the draft Bill. The Secretary of State discusses a wide range of issues regularly with colleagues in the House. The Home Office is the lead Department for the draft Communications Data Bill and we are aware that businesses have made representations directly to them about their concerns.

Computers

Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how much his Department spent on average per desktop computer for each full-time employee in the latest period for which figures are available.

Jo Swinson: At the end of Q2 (2012-13) the quarterly user charge which is based on 3,662 users include service provisions such as printing was £407 per user. The IT is provided through a Fujitsu outsourced contract which is due to end in 2014 for which the desktop charging model includes other service items and it is therefore not always possible to make a valid comparison with other desktop services delivered to other organisations. BIS is working with HM Treasury and the supplier to allow BIS to provide a figure which just covers desktop charges. Once agreed, this information will be available to all future quarterly figures.

Cosmetics: EU Law

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills 
	(1)  what steps the Government is taking to ensure that cosmetics companies based in the UK comply in full with the prohibition on importing and marketing of animal-tested cosmetics in line with the 7th amendment to the European Cosmetics Directive, Directive 76/768 EEC, on its entry into force in 2013;
	(2)  what steps the Government is taking to ensure the enforcement in the UK of the prohibition on importing and marketing of animal-tested cosmetics in line with the 7th amendment to the European Cosmetics Directive, Directive 76/768 EEC on its entry into force in 2013.

Jo Swinson: holding answer 17 December 2012
	Day-to-day enforcement of the regulations is the responsibility of local authority Trading Standards services. Trading Standards have access to the safety assessment dossiers which companies must retain for the cosmetic products they supply. These dossiers will contain information on how any testing has been carried out.
	The Department will work with Trading Standards to develop guidance on these provisions ahead of implementation of the 7th amendment to the European cosmetics directive. Anybody who is concerned that a product or its ingredients are supplied illegally should contact the Citizens Advice Consumer Service.

Employee Ownership

Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills with reference to his Department's consultation on employee owner status, by what process a reasonable price for the sale of shares back to an employer will be established.

Jo Swinson: We want this scheme to be flexible and open to all companies and employees who would benefit from it. It will be up to the employer and employee owner to determine the conditions for buy back including how to establish a fair price. The Government will be providing guidance to assist both parties in how to do this.

Employee Ownership

Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what eligibility criteria will apply to firms and employees taking part in the employee ownership scheme.

Jo Swinson: The eligibility criteria are clearly set out in clause 27 of the Growth and Infrastructure Bill.
	They are that all companies with share capital, including overseas companies and European companies may offer this type of contract and the individual must accept the contract and receive at least £2,000 worth of shares.

Employee Ownership

Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills following his Department's consultation on employee owner status, whether he expects firms to advertise vacancies which are only available under employee owner status.

Jo Swinson: The employee shareholder status is only open to entities which are companies limited by shares. Companies are free to make choices about what type of employment contracts they offer and the Government considers that companies are best placed to decide how they hire people.
	It is possible that some companies may only offer employee shareholder contracts in the same way that they can currently offer contracts which fall under either the worker and employee statuses.

EU Law

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills 
	(1)  which EU directives his Department transposed in (a) 2011 and (b) 2012 to date; which EU directives his Department expects to transpose in (i) 2013 and (ii) the next two years; and what estimate he has made of the cost of each such directive to the (A) public purse and (B) private sector;
	(2)  which regulations his Department introduced as a result of EU legislation in (a) 2011 and (b) 2012 to date; which regulations his Department expects to implement as a result of EU legislation in (i) 2013 and (ii) the next two years; and what estimate he has made of the cost of each such regulation to the (A) public purse and (B) private sector.

Jo Swinson: Information on the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills' (BIS) implementation of EU law has not until recently been collected centrally. Consequently we will need to draw information both on the transposition of directives and introduction of regulations to implement EU legislation for the years 2011 and 2012 from a number of sources. For EU measures where impact assessments have been published we will be able to provide the costs to business. We will deposit this information in the Libraries of the House in early January 2013.
	However, we do not believe it would be proportionate to also provide estimates of the cost to BIS of preparing, consulting on and implementing these measures.
	In the recently published Fifth Statement of New Regulation (SONR5) the Government has, for the first time, published new European Union measures which are being implemented in UK law and the associated costs to business from January to June 2013. This can be found at
	https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/bis-fifth-statement-of-new-regulation-regulations-covering-january-to-june-2013
	We intend to also provide this information for the next SONR periods which are: SONR6 (July to December 2013) and SONR7 (January to June 2014). We believe this will considerably increase transparency and help industry prepare for the introduction of EU as well as domestic legislation.
	When EU measures are brought into law the impact assessments are placed in the impact assessments library,
	http://www.ialibrary.bis.gov.uk/
	As the hon. Member would expect these provide costs to business.

Exports: Iraq

Adam Holloway: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills with reference to the publication of sovereign debt data by UK Export Finance (UKEF) in October 2012, which defence exports comprised the one per cent of Iraq's sovereign debt owed to UKEF attributed to the defence sector.

Michael Fallon: UK Export Finance, formally the Export Credits Guarantee Department (ECGD), recently published information, available in the Libraries of the House, about sovereign debts payable to ECGD. Paragraph 10 of the explanatory note sets out that, due to the age and incomplete nature of some of our records, judgment has to be made in some instances as to the precise nature of the goods and services that were supplied.
	The list of goods and services that make up the 1% of the original Iraq debt categorised as defence are:
	Vehicles spare parts, helicopter spares/electrical components, medical materials, medical laboratory equipment, Centaur military vehicles and spares, Sabre 51 beacons, Beethoven exploders, drilling machinery and equipment.

Foreign Students: Finance

Nick Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what his policy is on offering maintenance grants for living costs to UK students studying at foreign universities.

David Willetts: There are no student support arrangements in place in England for those students seeking to study outside the UK. Therefore, students in England that choose to study at Higher Education Institutions outside the UK are not eligible to receive student support, including maintenance grants and loans from Student Finance England. We have no plans to change this.
	However, maintenance loans and grants continue to be available to English students undertaking a period of study abroad provided that period of study forms a part of the course that they are taking at a Higher Education Institution within the UK. For example, Erasmus students studying abroad for a year (or part of a year) remain eligible for maintenance support. The Government also supports students taking up to a year abroad to study in a non-EU country. These students remain eligible for a tuition-fee loan and remain eligible to receive maintenance grants and loans.

Further Education

Shabana Mahmood: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what assessment he has made of the accuracy of statistics held on the Unistats website on further education colleges; and if he will make a statement.

David Willetts: The Unistats website provides prospective students with comparable information, known as the Key Information Set, for higher education courses at universities and further education colleges. This includes data from the National Student Survey (NSS) and the Destination of Leavers of Higher Education (DLHE) surveys, which are independently collected by a survey agency appointed by the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE). Data for further education colleges is also linked to the Individual Learner Record, which is subject to its own audit requirements.
	The HEFCE validates all Unistats data and each further education college (and each university) was given a preview of their Unistats data to check for accuracy and highlight any errors. In addition, as part of its early review of the Key Information Set, HEFCE are undertaking a small number of audits to establish whether there are systematic issues with the data. HEFCE intend to continue this audit activity in future years.

Government Departments: Disclosure of Information

Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what (a) benchmarks and (b) targets he has set for the Data Strategy Board Breakthrough Fund and its delivery.

Matthew Hancock: The Data Strategy Board (DSB) Breakthrough Fund has been established to assist open data proposals where Government Departments, Government agencies and local authorities have identified short term barriers to data release.
	The target for the fund is to enable the increased release of public sector data with growth potential. This will be informed by priorities recommended by the DSB, the Open Data User Group and Sector Transparency Boards which are currently developing. The benchmark for the fund will be the current data-set available through:
	www.Data.gov.uk
	and it will also build upon the identification of growth enhancing data sets recommended through the DSB and the Shakespeare Review, which will report on spring 2013.

Government Departments: Disclosure of Information

Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what (a) benchmarks and (b) targets he has set for the Open Data Immersion Programme and its delivery.

Matthew Hancock: The Open Data Immersion Programme comprises a series of events with prizes to encourage small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and start-ups to work with data owners to better understand how to re-use data sets in ways which create business opportunities.
	This is a new programme and no benchmarks currently exist but we will build the baseline from the first event in the programme. The target will be to provide support for as many market potential products as emanate from the events and will be dependent on the quality of the ideas from SME participants. It is therefore not feasible to set a target for the programme, however, the programme will be subject to an independent impact evaluation.

Government Departments: Disclosure of Information

Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills when bidding for firms wishing to apply for funds under the Open Data Immersion Programme will (a) open and (b) close.

Matthew Hancock: The Immersion Programme is a series of events for firms to participate in and not a fund for bids.
	BIS is currently working with the Open Data Institute, the Technology Strategy Board and the National Endowment for Science Technology and the Arts (NESTA) to determine the event themes and once agreed the opening and closing dates for the events will be publicised.
	These dates will be available in January 2013 and will be publicised on the Open Data Institute website at:
	www.theodi.org

Insolvency

David Hamilton: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what steps his Department has taken to ensure that (a) shareholders and (b) other types of owners are not allowed to structure investment in companies in such a way as to become preferred creditors in the event of insolvency.

Jo Swinson: The order of priority in insolvency situations has been long established, and the list of preferred creditors is kept to an absolute minimum. Secured lending from whatever legitimate source is however vital to our commercial landscape and the elevated position of such lenders in the creditor hierarchy recognises its importance.
	It will be for the appointed officeholder of an insolvent company to consider the nature of any transaction(s) that led to any charge(s) being obtained and the validity of security held.

Local Enterprise Partnerships: Greater London

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills pursuant to the answer of 11 December 2012, Official Report, column 235W, on Local Economic Partnerships: Greater London, if he will publish the terms of reference of the London Enterprise Panel Capacity Fund award; and if he will make a statement.

Michael Fallon: Guidance for the local enterprise partnership Capacity Fund is available on the Government's website:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/local-enterprise-partnership-capacity-fund-round-2

Money Lenders

Yvonne Fovargue: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many reports have been received by the illegal money lending teams in each (a) local authority area and (b) constituency; how many such reports resulted in further action being taken by the illegal money lending teams; and how many successful convictions of illegal money lenders have resulted from such reports in each of the last three years.

Jo Swinson: The Department does not hold this detailed level of information. Following the Government's reforms to the consumer landscape, since April 2012, the National Trading Standards Board now receives these reports, and reports to BIS in aggregate.
	Until April 2012, BIS received quarterly aggregate reports from the Tackling Illegal Money Lending Teams in England, Wales and Scotland based on activity in local authorities. Between April 2004 and April 2012, the projects had:
	Identified over 2,500 illegal money lenders and arrested over 600 illegal money lenders and secured over 220 prosecutions, resulting in prison sentencing totalling over 117 years—some cases were connected to other, more serious criminal activity which took precedence over illegal money lending prosecutions.
	Seized over £2.1 million in cash.
	Identified over £28 million of assets that could be seized under the Proceeds of Crime Act.
	Helped over 16,000 victims of loan sharks.

New Businesses

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what progress his Department is making on achieving the Government's aim of making the UK the best place to start a business; what recent discussions he has had with the Confederation of British Industry on business start up; and if he will make a statement.

Michael Fallon: We want to make the UK the best place in the world to start and grow a business, and for the next decade to be the most entrepreneurial and dynamic in Britain's history. There were 450,000 new company registrations in 2011/12—the highest since records began in 1997/98 and up from 360,000 in 2009/10. The World Bank
	(1)
	ranks the UK third in the G7 and 19th overall in the world for 'ease of starting a business'.
	Lord Young was tasked by Government to assess the landscape for supporting new small businesses and his report and guide on small business start-ups and enterprise was published on 28 May 2012. A key message of his report was that this is a great time to start a business, with record numbers of people becoming their own boss, supported by a wide range of help and encouragement to entrepreneurs from all ages and backgrounds.
	We continue to engage with the CBI, alongside other business representative bodies, to discuss a range of issues including barriers to start-ups. The Secretary of State meets with the CBI on a regular basis and discussions cover business financing, including our emerging proposals for a business bank.
	(1 ) Source:
	Doing Business 2013 report

Occupational Health

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what recent steps his Department has taken to promote best practice on workplace well-being.

Jo Swinson: This Department is committed to promoting a culture of workplace well-being, recognising that this is good for employees and also for employers.
	A clear example of this is BIS's work to promote a culture of flexible working. As well as extending the right to request flexible working to all, we are working, with the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), to drive culture change, particularly to encourage employers to think about the business benefits of flexible working when they recruit new employees. An employer group led by working families will be making practical recommendations about how businesses can benefit from flexible working and how they should consider building it into their recruitment practices.
	This Department has also jointly sponsored the Sickness Absence Review with DWP, where Dame Carol Black and David Frost brought forward a series of recommendations intended to foster a more coherent approach, through encouraging employers and individuals to play a more proactive role in managing absence and return to work. The review was conducted in the context of the Growth Agenda and fed into the wider Employment Law Review. The Government will publish its response shortly.
	BIS has also been a keen supporter of the excellent programme “Engage for Success”. This voluntary movement of leaders, managers and engagement practitioners is doing good work to promote the business benefits of effective employee engagement. "Engage for Success" recently launched a set of practical tools aimed at helping employers understand how to achieve employee engagement through focusing on four strategic enablers: strategic narrative; engaging managers; employee voice; and integrity. Further information can be found at:
	www.engageforsuccess.org
	BIS's partner organisations also have a role to play here, including the UK Commission for Employment and Skills (UKCES), who have responsibility for promoting Investors in People, a standard that puts employees and their interests at the heart of a business' success. In addition, ACAS also runs conferences to support workplace health, as part of its work to promote best practice around creating a modern workplace. Its seminar entitled 'Health and Engagement' took place in Birmingham on 13 December 2012 and a 'Health and Well-being' conference is planned for March 2013 in Nottingham. ACAS have also published an advisory booklet on 'Health, Work and Wellbeing', which is available on its website:
	www.acas.org.uk
	In taking this work forward, this Department works closely with DWP, who also have a keen policy interest in this subject.

Occupational Health

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what recent research his Department has conducted into the relationship between workplace well-being and productivity.

Jo Swinson: In October 2012 BIS published a study, ‘Promoting High Performance Working’, which assessed the prevalence of high performance working practices and the factors that influence their use in small and medium-sized enterprises. The presence of high performance work practices is associated with improved business performance and contributes to well-being; employees report higher job satisfaction, motivation, involvement and commitment. More information about high performance working can be found on the UK Commission for Employment and Skills' (UKCES) website.
	BIS has also published a series of Work-Life Balance Surveys which look at issues including working hours, the provision and take-up of flexible working arrangements, and employee attitudes to work-life balance.
	These publications are available in the BIS area of the following website:
	www.gov.uk

Recruitment

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many civil servants his Department has recruited in each month since 2010; what the cost to the public purse was of such recruitment in each year since 2010; and if he will make a statement.

Jo Swinson: The number and cost of new entrants to the civil service recruited by the Department for Business Innovation and Skills since May 2010 when the civil service recruitment freeze was implemented is given in the following tables. The tables also includes all leavers from the Department.
	
		
			 2010 
			  Recruits Leavers 
			 May 4 27 
			 June 1 24 
			 July 1 33 
			 August 1 40 
			 September 1 250 
			 October 20 141 
			 November 1 43 
		
	
	
		
			 December 0 18 
			 Total number 29 576 
			    
			 Total cost (£) 200,126 
		
	
	
		
			 2011 
			  Recruits Leavers 
			 January 4 14 
			 February 6 25 
			 March 1 101 
			 April 0 31 
			 May 1 11 
			 June 0 226 
			 July 3 27 
			 August 2 36 
			 September 3 34 
			 October 23 37 
			 November 2 10 
			 December 5 20 
			 Total number 50 572 
			    
			 Total cost (£) 286,407 
		
	
	
		
			 2012 
			  Recruits Leavers 
			 January 34 72 
			 February 9 17 
			 March 16 21 
			 April 14 28 
			 May 9 20 
			 June 6 27 
			 July 16 21 
			 August 4 44 
			 September 12 29 
			 Total number 120 279 
			    
			 Total cost (£) 421,022 
		
	
	These figures include apprentices and graduate recruits from the civil service fast stream programme who are exempt from the recruitment freeze, as well as fixed term appointees recruited for their specialist expertise.

Regeneration: Essex

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what recent discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government on regeneration in (a) Southend and (b) Essex.

Michael Fallon: The Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, the right hon. Member for Twickenham (Vince Cable) and the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, my right hon. Friend the Member for Brentwood and Ongar (Mr Pickles) meet frequently to discuss growth and regeneration issues as do the Ministers of State responsible for local growth in BIS and CLG but they have not met specifically to discuss Essex or Southend.
	The South East LEP sets the economic priorities across Essex, Kent and East Sussex at a strategic level, with input from local authorities and business. The LEP has secured an Enterprise Zone at Harlow and is administering some £50 million of Growing Places Fund. Alongside that work, Southend is one of 20 cities invited by Government to propose a Wave 2 City Deal, on which work is progressing well.
	The Thames Gateway South Essex Partnership brings together the 'Gateway' boroughs, including Southend, to tackle the long term infrastructure and growth challenges of the area—overseen through the Thames Gateway Strategic Group by the Thames Gateway Minister, the Under-Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, my hon. Friend the Member for Great Yarmouth (Brandon Lewis)
	Officials in central and local government are working closely with each other and with the private sector to ensure coherence between these arrangements and to help achieve growth in the Essex economy.

Regional Growth Fund

Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills pursuant to the answer of 27 November 2012, Official Report, column 298W, on regional growth fund, what the monetary value was of each individual award under round one of the Regional Growth Fund which has not yet received a final agreed offer.

Michael Fallon: Seven individual awards from Round One of the Regional Growth Fund have not yet received a final agreed offer as the company has not been able to agree terms and conditions. The following table shows the monetary value of each of these awards. BIS officials aim to get these offers agreed by the end of the year.
	
		
			 Number Amount (£ million) 
			 1 4,010,000 
			 2 12,900,000 
			 3 4,000,000 
			 4 2,000,000 
			 5 1,300,000 
			 6 3,600,000 
			 7 17,850,000

Regional Growth Fund

Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills pursuant to the answer of 9 November 2012, Official Report, column 779W, on regional growth fund, how many (a) bids and (b) individual awards under Round One only of the Regional Growth Fund have not yet drawn down funds; and what the monetary value is of such bids and awards.

Michael Fallon: There were 67 successful bids under Round 1.12 projects have since been withdrawn. 21 projects with a total value of £88.5 million have not claimed payments to date.

Regional Growth Fund

Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills pursuant to the answer of 27 November 2012, Official Report, column 298W, on Regional Growth Fund, from which regions the awards under round one of the Regional Growth Fund which have not yet agreed a final offer came.

Michael Fallon: Seven individual awards from Round One of the Regional Growth Fund have not yet received a final agreed offer as the company has not been able to agree terms and conditions. Of these, two are from the west midlands, one from the east midlands and two each from the north-east and north-west respectively.
	Officials in the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills aim to get these offers agreed by the end of the year.

Secondment

Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills 
	(1)  how many (a) secondments and (b) temporary transfers to his Department there have been of staff whose principal employer is (i) a non-departmental public body, (ii) an Executive agency, (iii) a non-ministerial Government Department and (iv) another public body in (A) 2010-11, (B) 2011-12 and (C) 2012-13 to date;
	(2)  how many staff whose principal employer is (a) a non-departmental public body, (b) an Executive agency, (c) a non-ministerial Government Department and (d) another public body are currently working in his Department; and how many such staff there were in (i) 2011 and (ii) 2010.

Jo Swinson: The following table shows the number of (a) secondments and (b) temporary transfers to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) whose principal employer is (i) a non-departmental public body (NDPB), (ii) an Executive agency, (iii) a non-ministerial Government Department and (iv) another public body in (A) 2010-11, (B) 2011-12 and (C) 2012-13 to date.
	
		
			  2010/11 2011/12 2012/13 to date 
			 Secondment    
			 NDPB 2 — — 
			 Public corporation 1 1 — 
			 Public body — 1 — 
			 Executive agency — 1 2 
			     
			 Loan in/temporary transfer    
			 Non-ministerial Department — — 1 
			 Another Government Department — — 90 
			 Unknown 180 177 8 
			 Total 183 180 101 
		
	
	The data for 2010/11 and 2011/12 does not show the breakdown by type of employer for loans or temporary transfers into the Department, as the Department has only recently started to capture this data However, the majority of these are people coming into BIS from other Government Departments.

Accident and Emergency Departments: Greater London

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people (a) attended accident and emergency (A&E) departments, (b) spent up to 120 minutes between arrival and departure in A&E, (c) spent between 121 and 240 minutes before departure in A&E and (d) spent over 240 minutes before departure in A&E in (i) North West London Hospitals NHS Trust and (ii) all London A&E departments in (A) 2010-11 and (B) 2011-12; and if he will make a statement.

Daniel Poulter: The number of attendances at accident and emergency for the specified providers by the duration to departure for each attendance in 2010-11 and 2011-12 is shown in the following tables. Data for 2011-12 is provisional and is therefore subject to change.
	
		
			 Number of attendances (1)  at accident and emergency for specified providers (2)  by the duration to departure (3)  for each attendance in 2010-11 and 2011-12 provisional (4) , activity in English NHS hospitals and English NHS commissioned activity in the independent sector 
			   2010-11 
			   Duration to departure 
			    Minutes  
			 Provider code Provider name Total attendances 0-120 121-240 >240 Unknown 
			 RV8 North West London Hospitals NHS Trust 172,300 64,112 98,536 9,652 — 
			 Q36 London SHA Treatment 3,274,513 1,284,888 1,809,444 179,155 1,026 
		
	
	
		
			   2011 -1 2 (Provisional) 
			   Duration to departure 
			    Minutes  
			 Provider code Provider name Total attendances 0-120 121-240 >240 Unknown 
			 RV8 North West London Hospitals NHS Trust 206,885 105,392 91,286 10,207 — 
			 Q36 London SHA Treatment 3,627,530 1,524,814 1,905,452 161,736 35,528 
			 (1) A and E attendances Activity at A and E Departments is recorded as the number of attendances. It should be noted that an individual person may attend the same or different A and E departments within any given year and therefore this does not represent the number of patients. (2) A and E service providers A provider code is a unique code that identifies an organisation acting as a health care provider (e.g. NHS trust or primary care trust). Hospital providers can also include treatment centres (TC). Normally, if data is tabulated by health care provider, the figure for an NHS trust gives the activity of all the sites as one aggregated figure. However, in the case of those with embedded treatment centres, this data is quoted separately. In these cases, ‘-X’ is appended to the code for the rest of the trust, to remind users that the figures are for all sites of the trust excluding the treatment centres. The quality of TC returns are such that data may not be complete. Some NHS trusts have not registered their TC as a separate site, and it is therefore not possible to identify their activity separately. Data from some independent sector providers, where the onus for arrangement of dataflows is on the commissioner, may be missing. Care must be taken when using this data as the counts may be lower than true figures. (3) Duration to departure The total amount of time spent in the A and E department. This calculated as the difference in time from arrival at A and E to the time when the patient is discharged from A and E care. This includes being admitted to hospital, died in the department, discharged with no follow up or discharged—referred to another specialist department. (4) Provisional data The data is provisional and may be incomplete or contain errors for which no adjustments have yet been made. Counts produced from provisional data are likely to be lower than those generated for the same period in the final dataset. This shortfall will be most pronounced in the final month of the latest period i.e. November from the (month 9) April to November extract. It is also probable that clinical data are not complete, which may in particular affect the last two months of any given period. There may also be errors due to coding inconsistencies that have not yet been investigated and corrected. Data quality : Hospital Episode Statistics are compiled from data sent by more than 300 NHS trusts and primary care trusts in England and from some independent sector organisations for activity commissioned by the English NHS. The Health and Social Care Information Centre liaises closely with these organisations to encourage submission of complete and valid data and seeks to minimise inaccuracies. While this brings about improvement over time, some shortcomings remain. Source: Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), Health and Social Care Information Centre.

Antibiotics: Research

Kevin Barron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when the UK 5 Year Anti-Microbial Resistance Strategy and Action Plan will be published.

Daniel Poulter: The “UK Five Year Antimicrobial Resistance Strategy and Action Plan 2013-2018” is expected to be published in February 2013.

Epilepsy

David Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what representations he has received on the effectiveness of the Government's strategy on (a) epilepsy diagnosis and management and (b) sudden death and epilepsy; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  whether the Government intends to review its strategy on sudden death and epilepsy.

Norman Lamb: Ministers and officials have meetings and receive representations from a wide range of organisations and individuals as part of the process of policy development and delivery. These include representations on all aspects of epilepsy care as well as sudden unexpected death in epilepsy. As was the case with previous Administrations, it is not the Government's practice to provide details of all such meetings and representations.
	The previous Administration published the national service framework (NSF) for long-term conditions in 2005 as a 10-year strategy to improve access, experience and outcomes for people with a long-term neurological condition. By implementing the NSF's quality requirements, local service commissioners would support improvements to areas such as diagnosis/treatment and information provision, which would reduce the risk of seizures and epilepsy related deaths. We have made no overall assessment of the effectiveness of implementation of the NSF, though the long-term neurological conditions research initiative has provided some information on its impact.
	The mandate to the NHS Commissioning Board sets out the objectives for the national health service and highlights the areas of health and care where the Government expects to see improvements. The objectives in the mandate focus on those areas identified as being of greatest importance to people and include managing on-going physical and mental health conditions. In this respect, the mandate seeks improvements in the way care is provided to people by centring care on the person rather than on the specific condition.

EU Law

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  which EU directives his Department transposed in (a) 2011 and (b) 2012 to date; which EU directives his Department expects to transpose in (i) 2013 and (ii) the next two years; and what estimate he has made of the cost of each such directive to the (A) public purse and (B) private sector;
	(2)  which regulations his Department introduced as a result of EU legislation in (a) 2011 and (b) 2012 to date; which regulations his Department expects to implement as a result of EU legislation in (i) 2013 and (ii) the next two years; and what estimate he has made of the cost of each such regulation to the (A) public purse and (B) private sector.

Daniel Poulter: The Department of Health is responsible for the transposition of the following European Union (EU) directives into United Kingdom law and introducing the following regulations as a result of EU legislation:
	1. EU directives transposed or to be transposed:
	Directiv e 2010/53/EU (o rgan transplantation)
	Directive 2010/53/EU on standards of quality and safety of human organs intended for transplantation was transposed by the deadline, 27 August 2012. The estimated setup cost for the public sector (NHS both centrally and at transplant centres) is £2.758 million, with an ongoing cost over a 10-year period of around £1.605 million per year. Over the same period, the set-up cost for the private sector was estimated at £300,000 with an annual ongoing cost of £345,000.
	Directive 2010/84/EU (Pharmacovigilance)
	The Department transposed Directive 2010/84/EU amending, as regards pharmacovigilance, Directive 2001/83/EC on the Community code relating to medicinal products for human use in July 2012. The final impact assessment identified annual cost to UK business at £4.6 million (annual costs £7.6 million, annual benefits £3.0 million).
	Directive 2011/24/EU (cross b order health care)
	We plan to implement Directive 2011/24/EU on cross border health care allowing EU citizens to seek planned health care treatment in other EU member states on 25 October 2013. The estimated costs and benefits of implementing the directive will be included in an impact assessment as part of the Department's consultation process now planned by spring 2013.
	D irective 2011/62/EU (falsified m edicines)
	We will transpose Directive 2011/62/EU in 2013. An initial assessment of the costs of the directive has been made in a current public consultation. This assessment identifies annual cost to UK business at £13.1 million (annual costs £13.11 million, annual benefits £0.013 million).
	Directive 2011/100/EU ( in vitro diagnostic medical devices)
	Directive 2011/100/EU, placing variant Creutzfeld-Jacob disease (vCJD) assays into a technical annex of directive 98/79/EC that subjects in vitro diagnostic medical devices (IVDs) to the greatest level of pre-market scrutiny, was transposed in May 2012. The current costs on the public and private sector, as set out in the final impact assessment, are estimated to be nil insofar as there are not currently any vCJD IVDs on the market. The potential future costs per assay are estimated to have a one-off cost of between £12,000 and £18,000 and annual costs of between £9,000 and £10,000.
	Directive 2012/15/EU
	The Department need to transpose Commission Implementing Directive 2012/15/EU laying down information procedures for the exchange, between member states, of human organs, intended for transplantation but hope to do so by amending a definition in the Quality and Safety of Organs Intended for Transplantation Regulations 2012 (2012 No. 1501). Moreover, the present policy thinking is that the amendment might be included with other tissue regulations so there would be no significant extra cost.
	Directive 2012/26/EU (Pharmacovigilance)
	The Department will transpose Directive 2012/26/EU amending, as regards pharmacovigilance, Directive 2001/83/EC on the Community code relating to medicinal products for human use in October 2013. This directive makes minor procedural amendments and we do not expect additional costs.
	2. Regulations introduced as a result of EU legislation including technical  amendments:
	Commission Regulation (EU) No. 712/2012 of 3 August 2012 amending Regulation (EC) No. 1234/2008 concerning the examination of variations to the terms of marketing authorisations for medicinal products for human use and veterinary medicinal products:
	This regulation has led to some technical amendment of the Medicines (Products for Human Use) (Fees) Regulations 2012 (SI 2012/504). The amending statutory instrument (SI) is the Medicines (Products for Human Use) (Fees) (Amendment) Regulations 2012 (SI 2012/712) which came into force on 2 November 2012.
	This regulation did not lead to additional annual costs.
	Further technical amendments based on Commission Regulation (EC) 712/2012 will be included in the Medicines (Products for Human Use) (Fees) Regulations 2013.
	The Human Medicines Regulations 2012
	The Human Medicines Regulations 2012 (SI No. 2012/1916) implement Directive 2010/84/EU amending as regards Pharmacovigilance Directive 2001/83/EC and Regulation (EU) 1235/2010 amending as regards pharmacovigilance Regulation (EC) No. 726/2004.
	The Medical Devices (Amendment) Regulations 2012
	The Medical Devices (Amendment) Regulations 2012 (SI 2012/1426) implement Directive 2011/100/EU amending Directive 98/79/EC on in vitro diagnostic medical devices.
	Regulation 722/2012
	Regulations to be made to implement Regulation 722/2012 concerning particular requirements as regards the requirements laid down in Council Directives 90/385/EEC and 93/42/EEC with respect to active implantable medical devices and medical devices manufactured utilising tissues of animal origin; maximum cost on UK private sector of £24,000 per annum.
	Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No .  520/2012
	Regulations to be made to implement. Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No. 520/2012 on the performance of pharmacovigilance activities provided for in Regulation (EC) No. 726/2004 and Directive 2001/83/EC. These regulations will jointly implement this regulation and the falsified medicines directive.
	3. Directives not yet transposed
	Directive 2009/39 (PARNUTS)
	The PARNUTS directive for particular nutritional uses (Directive 2009/39) is subject to an implementation timetable. It is close to political agreement which would lead to UK implementing regulations in 2015 or 2016.
	The following directives and regulations are currently under negotiation and are not expected to be fully transposed or to enter into force before 2015-16. These include:
	Directive 2001/83/EC, Regulation (EC) No. 178/2002 and Regulation (EC) No. 1223/2009 and Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on in vitro diagnostic medical devices.
	Proposal for a Decision of the European Parliament and of the Council on serious cross border threats to health.
	Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on establishing a Health for Growth Programme, the third multi-annual programme of EU action in the field of health for the period 2014-2020 (First Reading).
	Proposal for a directive amending Council Directive 89/105/EEC of 21 December 1988 relating to the transparency of measures regulating the pricing of medicinal products for human use and their inclusion within the scope of national health insurance systems.
	Regulation on clinical trials on medical products for human use.
	In order to increase transparency, in the forthcoming Statement of New Regulation (SNR5) the Government will, for the first time, be publishing those new EU measures which are being implemented in UK law and have a direct effect on business.

Health Professions: Training

Andy Burnham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many students entered training to become a (a) nurse, (b) midwife and (c) GP in England in each of the last five years.

Daniel Poulter: The Department does not collect figures on nurses and midwives entering training. However, the number of training places commissioned for nursing and midwifery is collected.
	The following table shows the number of full-time equivalent commissions for nursing and midwifery in the last five years.
	
		
			 Nursing and midwifery training commissions 2007-08 to 2011-12 
			  Commissions 
			  Nursing Midwifery 
			 2007-08 19,352 2,071 
			 2008-09 20,663 2,272 
			 2009-10 20,829 2,482 
			 2010-11 20,092 2,488 
			 2011-12 17,741 2,484 
			 Note: The midwifery figures include both degree and 18 month diploma courses. Source: Multi-professional education and training monitoring returns 
		
	
	The actual number of training commissions for nurses and midwives in 2012-13 will not be available until May 2013.
	The number of general practitioner trainees appointed for 2008 are not held by the Department. The numbers appointed in England since 2009 are shown in the following table.
	
		
			 General practitioner trainee appointments 2009-12 
			  Number 
			 2009 2,691 
			 2010 2,800 
			 2011 2,658 
			 2012 2,669 
			 Source: www.openrecruitment.org.uk

Hernias: Greater London

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many finished admissions episodes there were and what the (a) mean and (b) median time waited was in days for hernia repair procedures in (i) North West London Hospitals NHS Trust and (ii) all London acute hospitals in (A) 2010-11 and (B) 2011-12; and if he will make a statement.

Daniel Poulter: The number of finished admission episodes (FAEs) and mean and median time waited (days) for hernia repair procedures during 2010-11 and 2011-12 for North West London Hospitals NHS Trust and London strategic health authority is shown in the following table.
	
		
			 Number of finished admission episodes (FAEs) (1)  and mean and median time waited (2)  (days) for North West London Hospitals NHS Trust and for London strategic health authority (SHA) of treatment for hernia repair procedures (3)  for 2010-11 and 2011-12, activity in English NHS hospitals and English NHS commissioned activity in the independent sector 
			   2010-11 2011-12 
			 Procedure  Total FAEs Mean time waited Median time waited Total FAEs Mean time waited Median time waited 
			 Hernia repair North West London Hospitals NHS Trust 790 71.7 70 830 127.0 150 
			  London SHA Treatment 15,955 70.5 62 16,739 80.5 67 
			 (1) Finished admission episodes A finished admission episode (FAE) is the first period of in-patient care under one consultant within one health care provider. FAEs are counted against the year in which the admission episode finishes. Admissions do not represent the number of in-patients, as a person may have more than one admission within the year. (2) Time waited (days) Time waited (days) statistics from Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) are not the same as published Referral to Treatment (RTT) time waited statistics. HES provides counts and time waited for all patients between decision to admit and admission to hospital within a given period. Published RTT waiting statistics measure the time waited between referral and start of treatment. (3) Duration to departure The total amount of time spent in the accident and emergency A and E department. This calculated as the difference in time from arrival at A and E to the time when the patient is discharged from A and E care. This includes being admitted to hospital, died in the department, discharged with no follow up or discharged—referred to another specialist department. Source: Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), Health and Social Care Information Centre.

Medicine: Research

David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what steps he plans to take to increase the availability of clinical data for research.
	(2)  what discussions he has had with the European Medicines Agency and the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency on whether clinical data should be published for the purposes of research.

Daniel Poulter: The Government launched the Clinical Practice Research Datalink (CPRD) in March 2012. As agreed in the “Strategy for UK Life Sciences”, the CPRD is the result of a £60 million investment by the National Institute for Health Research and the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) and will provide access to data that supports clinical trials and population observational studies on an unprecedented scale.
	The CPRD operates across England, connecting patient information from general practitioners and hospitals to other records, such as disease registries, and holds the resultant information in anonymised form to protect patients privacy. The combined datasets can be used to answer medical research questions, and the results shared via peer reviewed publications. Future projects include the addition of air pollution data, social care records and potential for working with UK Biobank. The CPRD also aims to link with similar systems that cover populations in Scotland and Wales. Governance approval is sought for all new data linkages.
	Since the service was launched in March 2012, 16 global pharmaceutical companies have been granted CPRD data licences, over 100 research studies have been submitted and 623 researchers have registered on the CPRD website. We will build on this early platform to provide an invaluable resource for the research community.
	Clinical data and linked data, in a research-usable, anonymised format, is made available via the CPRD to a wide range of researchers for use in approved research projects. These research projects meet the needs of medicine/device regulators and as well the needs of commercial companies required under regulations to undertake specific research studies. Discussions between CPRD and researchers, regulators and commercial companies are conducted on a regular basis to ensure the opportunity that United Kingdom data can play in medicine/device safety and improvement in public health is maximised. The anonymised data is published against a specific independently approved protocol written by researchers who are under legal contract to CPRD for access to the required dataset for each research study protocol.
	The CPRD is also developing specific data/research tools to help the understanding of the use of medicines in pregnancy and in children, as well as in the immediate period after launch of a new medicine. These tools are in response to the requirements of regulators such as the European Medicines Agency and the MHRA.
	To complement the work of the CPRD, the Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC) launched its new “Data Linkage Service” on 17 September 2012, in line with commitments set out in the “Strategy for UK Life Sciences”. The data linkage service adds significant value to individual sets of data by combining and matching them at an anonymised individual record level in a secure environment. From April 2013 the service will begin to offer anonymised extracts of linked data on a routine (i.e. monthly) basis. The volume of extracts available will grow as the datasets within the HSCIC increase. HSCIC is working with the CPRD and the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry to identify priority areas for linkage.
	Sir David Nicholson will lead on delivering the national health service vision for genomics, starting with a process to ensure that from April 2014 contracts are in place for whole genome sequences for NHS patients. Access arrangements will be considered as part of this process. To ensure public confidence in matters of confidentiality and access, this work will be monitored by the chief medical officer for England. Access would only be to anonymised and aggregated data to carry out research likely to benefit the health of UK citizens. The NHS will act as custodians of this data, ensuring that doctors have the information they need and researchers can carry out health research while privacy of the patients is ensured.

Surgery: Greater London

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many finished admission episodes there were and what the (a) mean and (b) median time waited was in days for (i) hip replacement, (ii) hysterectomy and (iii) cataract removal procedures at (A) North West London Hospitals NHS Trust and (B) all London hospitals in (i) 2010-11 and (ii) 2011-12; and if he will make a statement.

Daniel Poulter: The number of finished admission episodes (FAEs) and mean and median time waited for hip replacement, hysterectomy and cataract removal procedures during 2010-11 and 2011-12 for North West London Hospitals NHS Trust and London Strategic Health Authority is shown in the following table.
	
		
			 Number of finished admission episodes (FAEs) (1)  and mean and median time waited (2)  (days) for North West London Hospitals NHS Trust and for London Strategic Health Authority of Treatment for (i) hip replacement, (ii) hysterectomy and (Hi) cataract removal procedures (3)  for 2010-11 and 2011-12 
			 Activity in English NHS Hospitals and English NHS commissioned activity in the independent sector 
			   2010-11 2011-12 
			 Procedure Provider Total FAEs Mean time waited Median time waited Total FAEs Mean time waited Median time waited 
			 Hip replacement North West London Hospitals NHS Trust 390 95.6 88 299 116.9 111 
			  London SHA Treatment 9,067 89.1 83 9,377 94.3 86 
			 Hysterectomy North West London Hospitals NHS Trust 183 83.2 80 210 92.7 86 
			  London SHA Treatment 4,536 65.4 54 4,563 68.8 52 
			 Cataract removal North West London Hospitals NHS Trust 870 39.9 41 792 65.9 66 
		
	
	
		
			  London SHA Treatment 47,230 57.4 49 48,449 66.8 62 
			 (1) Finished admission episodes A finished admission episode (FAE) is the first period of in-patient care under one consultant within one health care provider. FAEs are counted against the year in which the admission episode finishes. Admissions do not represent the number of in-patients, as a person may have more than one admission within the year. (2) Time waited (days) Time waited (days) statistics from Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) are not the same as published Referral to Treatment (RTT) time waited statistics. HES provides counts and time waited for all patients between decision to admit and admission to hospital within a given period. Published RTT waiting statistics measure the time waited between referral and start of treatment. (3) Duration to departure The total amount of time spent in the Accident and Emergency department. This calculated as the difference in time from arrival at A&E to the time when the patient is discharged from A&E care. This includes being admitted to hospital, died in the department, discharged with no follow up or discharged—referred to another specialist department. Source: Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), Health and Social Care Information Centre

Surgery: Greater London

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many finished admissions episodes there were and what the (a) mean and (b) median time waited was in days for cholecystectomy procedures in (i) 2010-11 and (ii) 2011-12 at (A) North West London Hospitals NHS Trust and (B) all other London hospitals; and if he will make a statement.

Daniel Poulter: The number of finished admission episodes (FAEs) and mean and median time waited for cholecystectomy procedures during 2010-11 and 2011-12 for North West London Hospitals NHS Trust and London Strategic Health Authority is shown in the following table.
	
		
			 Number of finished admission episodes (FAEs) (1)  and the mean and median time waited (2)  (days) for North West London Hospitals NHS Trust and London Strategic Health Authority (SHA) of treatment for cholecystectomy procedures (3)  for 2010-11 and 2011-12 
			 Activity in English NHS Hospitals and English NHS commissioned activity in the independent sector 
			   2010-11 2011-12 
			 Procedure Provider Total FAEs Mean time waited Median time waited Total FAEs Mean time waited Median time waited 
			 Cholecystectomy North West London Hospitals NHS Trust 327 79.8 77 368 111.6 132 
			  London SHA Treatment 6,484 74.5 64 7,367 81.5 68 
			 (1) Finished admission episodes A finished admission episode (FAE) is the first period of in-patient care under one consultant within one health care provider. FAEs are counted against the year in which the admission episode finishes. Admissions do not represent the number of in-patients, as a person may have more than one admission within the year. (2) Time waited (days) Time waited (days) statistics from Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) are not the same as published Referral to Treatment (RTT) time waited statistics. HES provides counts and time waited for all patients between decision to admit and admission to hospital within a given period. Published RTT waiting statistics measure the time waited between referral and start of treatment. (3) Duration to departure The total amount of time spent in the Accident and Emergency (A&E) department. This calculated as the difference in time from arrival at A&E to the time when the patient is discharged from A&E care. This includes being admitted to hospital, died in the department, discharged with no follow up or discharged—referred to another specialist department. Source: Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), Health and Social Care Information Centre

Hate Crime

Eric Ollerenshaw: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what steps he is taking to tackle hate crime through the justice system.

Jeremy Wright: The Ministry of Justice hosts the Government’s Hate Crime programme, which brings all Departments together with criminal justice agencies and key partners. It is advised by a standing Independent Advisory Group and ensures that a co-ordinated approach is taken to reducing the harm caused by hate crime. Our intentions are set out in “Challenge it, Report it, Stop it: The Government's Plan to Tackle Hate Crime” published in March 2012.

Prisoners: Drug Addiction

Annette Brooke: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what steps he is taking to prevent drug addiction among prisoners.

Jeremy Wright: The Government is committed to stopping drugs entering prisons and to getting offenders off drugs. Fewer prisoners are testing positive for drugs than any time since 1996, but there is more to do, so we are working closely with the Department of Health and other service providers to create integrated, recovery orientated and outcome focused services.

Human Trafficking

Andrew Selous: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many victims of trafficking referred to the Trafficking Victim Support Scheme operated by the Salvation Army in the last 12 months failed to receive a conclusive grounds decision; and if he will make a statement.

Helen Grant: Information produced by the UK Human Trafficking Centre indicates that there were 17 negative Conclusive Grounds decisions in the period October 2011 to October 2012 on victims who have been referred to the Government-funded support service for adult victims of human trafficking in England and Wales administered by The Salvation Army.

China

Andy Slaughter: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs 
	(1)  whether he has any plans to make representations to the new leadership of the Chinese Communist Party regarding the treatment of the ethnic Uyghur population in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region;
	(2)  if he will make representations to his counterpart in China on the ongoing harassment of the family of exiled Uyghur rights activist Ms Rebiya Kadeer, including the imprisonment of Ablikim and Alim Kadeer, who have been detained since 2006;
	(3)  if he will make representations to the government of China on the repression of religion in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region prior to, during and after Ramadan this year.

Hugo Swire: We are concerned about the treatment of the Uyghur community in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, particularly in relation to cultural and religious freedoms. We will continue to make representations to the Chinese Government, and plan on doing so during the next UK-China Human Rights Dialogue, which is due to take place in spring 2013.
	The agenda for the last UK-China Human Rights Dialogue included the situation in Xinjiang, ethnic minority rights, freedom of religion, as well as the rights of detainees and a number of individual cases—including those of Ablikim and Alim Kadeer.

EU Law

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs which regulations his Department introduced as a result of EU legislation in (a) 2011 and (b) 2012 to date; which regulations his Department expects to implement as a result of EU legislation in (i) 2013 and (ii) the next two years; and what estimate he has made of the cost of each such regulation to the (A) public purse and (B) private sector.

David Lidington: Regulations are a specific type of statutory instrument. These are rarely sponsored by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO). The most usual type of statutory instrument sponsored by the FCO is an order in Council.
	In 2011 the FCO adopted the following orders as a result of EU legislation:
	S.I. 2011/742 The European Union (Definition of Treaties) (Stabilisation and Association Agreement) (Republic of Serbia) Order 2011
	S.I. 2011/743 The European Union (Definition of Treaties ) (Partnership and Cooperation Agreement) (Republic of Indonesia); and
	S.I. 2011/1043 The Treaty of Lisbon (Changes in Terminology) Order 2011.
	In 2012 the FCO has adopted the following regulations:
	S.I. 2012/358 The European Union (Definition of Treaties) (Republic of Korea Framework agreement) Order 2012;
	S.I. 2012/797 The European Union (Definition of Treaties) (Second Agreement amending the Cotonou Agreement) order 2012; and
	S.I. 2012/1809 The Treaty of Lisbon (Changes of Terminology or Numbering) Order 2012.
	The FCO is aware of three other measures that will need to be given effect by secondary legislation in the new year relating to the EU/Mongolia Partnership and Cooperation Agreement, The EU/Singapore Partnership and Cooperation Agreement and the conferring of privileges and immunities on Athena (an EU body).
	These measures are either technical in nature or relate to international agreements. As set out in Explanatory Memoranda for each of the regulations in 2011 and 2012, costs to the public purse are negligible, and they are not estimated to incur significant costs to business.

Gibraltar: Spain

Ian Paisley Jnr: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent reports he has received on the movements of a Spanish warship in the territorial waters of Gibraltar; and what steps he is taking to address this issue.

David Lidington: There were two incursions by a Spanish naval vessel into British Gibraltar Territorial Waters (BGTW) on 10 December. Radio warnings were issued and the vessel departed BGTW. We have protested to Spain via diplomatic channels at a very high level.
	The Royal Navy challenges Guardia Civil and other Spanish State vessels whenever they make unlawful maritime incursions into BGTW. We back this up by making formal diplomatic protests to the Spanish Government about all unlawful incursions. Our challenges and protests make clear that such incursions are an unacceptable violation of British sovereignty.
	We are confident of UK sovereignty over BGTW under international law. We make our position clear to the Spanish Government whenever appropriate and we will continue to uphold British sovereignty over the waters.

Israel

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps he is taking to ensure that Israeli settlements are excluded from all EU and UK agreements with Israel.

Alistair Burt: Our position on Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territories is clear: they are illegal under international law, an obstacle to peace and make a two-state solution, with Jerusalem as a shared capital, harder to achieve. We consistently urge the Israeli authorities to cease all settlement activity.
	The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) follows UK and EU guidelines when purchasing goods and services from suppliers. The grounds for exclusion of a supplier under UK and EU procurement law are set out in the Public Contracts Regulations 2006 (as amended), which in turn reflect EU Directives on public procurement and it would have to be considered whether, on the facts of a particular case, any of these grounds applied. Since these guidelines do not currently differentiate between products emanating from Israel or from the Occupied Palestinian Territories, the FCO has not taken any steps in this regard. There is currently no specific proposal for excluding goods, services and products from settlements from EU and member state procurement.
	The issue of settlement produce is actively discussed with our EU partners. EU Foreign Ministers, at the Foreign Affairs Council meeting on 14 May, agreed that:
	"the EU and its member states reaffirm their commitment to fully and effectively implement existing EU legislation and the bilateral arrangements applicable to settlement products. The Council underlines the importance of the work being carried out together with the Commission in this regard."
	This ongoing work includes measures to ensure that settlement produce does not enter the EU duty-free, under the EU-Israel Association Agreement, and steps to ensure that EU-wide guidelines are issued to make sure that settlement products are not incorrectly labelled as Israeli produce, in violation of EU consumer protection regulations. There are, however, currently no plans for EU or domestic legislation on this issue.

Mediterranean Sea: Environment Protection

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether the Government plans to ratify the Barcelona Convention for the Protection of the Mediterranean Sea against Pollution.

David Lidington: We have had initial discussions with the Government of Gibraltar on this matter and are considering how best to engage in various multilateral fora which concern the marine environment in the Mediterranean. Ratifying the Barcelona Convention so that it applies to Gibraltar is one option.

Middle East

Douglas Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps his Department has requested the government of Israel to take to effectively ease the terms of the current blockade on Gaza.

William Hague: We have repeatedly urged Israel to ease its restrictions on Gaza, including during the recent visit to the region by the Minister of State for International Development, my right hon. Friend the Member for Rutland and Melton (Mr Duncan).
	We have put forward suggestions for discussion in the ongoing talks in Cairo, brokered by Egypt, which provide an important opportunity to resolve the fundamental problems of Gaza, including achieving more open access to and from Gaza for people and goods, and an end to the smuggling of weapons. We have also suggested concrete steps that we urge Israel to take in the interim. These include, for example, further expanding the fishing limit; significantly reducing the ‘no-go’ zone up to the border fence; allowing containerised imports to Gaza; and permitting goods from Gaza to access markets in Israel and the west bank, as well as international markets.

Occupied Territories

Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps he is taking to encourage the government of Israel to end the construction of settlements.

Alistair Burt: We continue to urge the Israeli authorities to cease all settlement building, revoke previous announcements and to remove illegal outposts, as required under international law and in fulfilment of Israel's obligations under the Roadmap.
	We have condemned the Israeli decision on 30 November to build 3,000 new housing units in East Jerusalem and the West Bank and to unfreeze planning in the area known as El. We have called on the Israeli Government to reverse these decisions. I formally summoned the Israeli ambassador to the UK to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office on 3 December, to underline the depth of our concerns.
	Our position on Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territories is clear: they are illegal under international law, an obstacle to peace and make a two-state solution, with Jerusalem as a shared capital, harder to achieve.

Palestinians

Douglas Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the effect that the vote in favour of Palestinian recognition at the UN will have on UK relations with the Palestinian Authority.

William Hague: The UK's deep friendship with the Palestinians and strong support for the Palestinian Authority which has seen the UK provide £22.5 million over the last year in relation to state-building. Our vote on the recent UN General Assembly (UNGA) resolution was guided by a simple principle: how best to support a return to genuine negotiations to secure a two-state solution.
	However, we have been clear that we respect the course of action chosen by President Abbas. The Deputy Prime Minister and I both spoke to him prior to the UNGA vote. No-one can doubt that President Abbas is a courageous man of peace. We believe that he is the best interlocutor that Israel will have to bring about peace.

UK Membership of EU

John Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent discussions he had with (a) trade associations and (b) trades unions in the UK on UK membership of the EU.

David Lidington: I regularly engage with a range of interested stakeholders as part of my ministerial duties. Among others, I have recently met the Westminster Forum and TheCityUK.
	In addition, the Government is engaging with a. wide range of interest groups, including the Trades Union Congress and numerous trade and business associations, as part of the Balance of Competences review currently under way.

Developing Countries: Civil Wars

John Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of development aid from her Department to countries that have recently experienced a civil war.

Alan Duncan: DFID programmes in conflict-affected states are having a real impact on the lives of the poor. For example:
	In Afghanistan in 2010-11, DFID contributed to 4.7 million children attending primary school and reached 1.4 million people with emergency food assistance.
	In the Democratic Republic of Congo DFID reached 153,000 young children and pregnant women through nutrition programmes.
	In Nepal DFID supported the creation of 45,000 jobs and lifted 76,000 people out of poverty through our forestry work.
	In Nigeria DFID supported 40 million people to vote in elections.
	Results in all UK development programmes, including fragile and conflict-affected countries, are driven by country context. For all DFID pages we measure the impact programmes have on reducing conflict, as well as the achievement of development results in specific sectors. The UK has also endorsed the New Deal for Engagement in Fragile States (Busan, November 2011) and is committed to implementing its guidance on working more effectively in fragile and conflict-affected countries.

Seas and Oceans: Biodiversity

Zac Goldsmith: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment her Department has made of the case for a sustainable development goal on the conservation and sustainable use of marine biodiversity.

Justine Greening: The Prime Minister believes that a new global development framework should focus on the eradication of poverty. This will mean not only finishing the job on the current millennium development goals (in areas such as health and education), but also helping to put in place the building blocks of sustained prosperity. As part of this, a new framework will need to address the critical challenge of managing natural resources sustainably, fairly and effectively. The High Level Panel on the post-2015 development agenda co-chaired by the Prime Minister, will take a leadership role in considering the case for different goals.